Lawyer Gwen Pimentel has expressed regret over the decision of the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino to drop her as a guest senatorial candidate in the 2010 elections even as she conveyed her gratitude to former President Joseph Estrada for extending to her the privilege.
Gwen said it is unfortunate that the privilege had to be suddenly withdrawn as a backlash of the feud between minority senators, led by her father, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and a rival group that is in control of the Senate over a highly partisan and divisive issue.
“Through his kindness and goodness of heart, President Estrada adopted me as a guest candidate in his party. But there are others in his party whose hearts are not as generous and who are swayed by vindictiveness in treating even those who have nothing to do with the Senate power play and who have done them no wrong,” Gwen said.
She did not elaborate but she was apparently referring to other opposition stalwarts whom her father had exchanged harsh words with during debates on the C-5 road extension issue at the Senate last week.
Ernesto Maceda, campaign manager of Estrada, confirmed that Gwen was dropped from the PMP’s senatorial lineup and that one of the reasons for this was the ongoing tension between Pimentel and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
Gwen is a guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., who has been at odds with Enrile over the committee report on the C-5 road project that called for his censure.
“We thank President Erap wholeheartedly for his efforts to help my candidacy. But I will fight on with Sen. Manny Villar in pursuing our common goals of alleviating the plight of children, the marginalized and neglected sectors of society, in fighting for equality of women, in giving redress to victims of injustice, in mitigating the impact of climate change and in attaining peace and development in the barangay and in the whole country,” she added.
Her father also said he does not have any hard feelings against Estrada for dropping his daughter and chief of staff from the PMP’s Senate slate.
Gwen has been going around the country with Villar in recent months to introduce herself to the people, the latest of which is a sortie in Tarlac City where Villar and his partymates presented themselves to the members of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc. (PGBI) led by its national chairman and supremo, Sen. Gregorio Honasan.
Meantime, Estrada’s camp stressed that the mammoth crowd that turns up in the provincial sorties of the former president disproves survey results showing Villar and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III way ahead of the other presidential hopefuls.
PMP senatorial candidate lawyer J.V. Bautista told newsmen in Cabanatuan City that surveys commissioned by reputable survey firms do not necessarily reflect the truth as Estrada’s charisma has not waned a bit. – With Manny Galvez